By Frank Sinatra, AAP Editor
Building upon last year’s success, the second annual Pennsauken Job Fair saw over 900 job seekers interact with over 20 companies looking to hire.
For four hours on Sept. 17, a constant stream of people flowed in and out of one of the meeting halls at Living Faith Christian Center, speaking with companies from ACCU Staffing, a full service local staffing company, to Uptown Bakeries, a sister company of Pennsauken’s J&J Snack Foods.
“The job fair was a perfect example of our municipal government, community organizations, and local businesses working together for the good of our residents,” says Larry Cardwell from Pennsauken Township’s Department of Economic Development. “We’re excited that this event created a positive reaction from both job seekers and local businesses.”
Momentum built up for the job fair weeks before the event, as almost 200 people uploaded their resumes in advance, looking for positions in everything from administration to warehousing. One attendee at the event had a unique perspective. Heidi LiebeGott was a recent transplant to Pennsauken last year and attended the Township’s first job fair looking for work. She connected with Pennsauken’s Tailored Tutoring and segued that opportunity into a position at LGCY Power, where she’s the company’s field office manager. She attended the job fair on behalf of her employer, who is looking to fill door-to-door sales positions.
“I thought [last year’s event] had a lot of diversity, which was nice, compared to others I had been too,” explains LiebeGott. “It helped me get familiar with some of the businesses that were out there and what was actually available in the area.
“Now on the other side, it’s great to be able to talk to people and really inform them about what LGCY Power does, instead of just getting resumes from people.”
Many other businesses who attended were also impressed with the Pennsauken Job Fair. “Our entire organization feels that this was the best job fair we have attended in some time,” says Laurie Simko, regional operations manager for ACCU Staffing Services. “We had candidates coming to our offices that day to follow up.”
But a real telling story of the positive impact of this year’s job fair happened after the event was over. For several days, Cherry Hill-based J&J Staffing interviewed 250 candidates at the Pennsauken Free Public Library; each individual who came in was someone they spoke with on Sept. 17.
The planners of the Pennsauken Job Fair wished to thank the following companies for their participation in October’s event: ACCU Staffing; Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton; Center For Family Services; Dicaperl; Global Grind, LLC – Perfectress; Grace Healthcare Services; Inserts East; J&J Snack Foods; J&J Staffing; JCI Transportation; LGCY Power; Loomis; MHS Lift; People Me Inc.; Pepsi; Protocol Group; Questa Technology; Restaurant Depot; Simmons Pet Food, Inc.; SNJ Perinatal Cooperative; Tupperware; and Uptown Bakeries. A special thank you goes to Michael Hurley of Century Search, who helped provide job seekers with prep materials and questions to ask potential employers.
“I want to thank all the businesses here for coming out. Certainly in these trying times, jobs are very important to people and I’m sure you’ll find some good candidates here,” said Pennsauken Mayor Rick Taylor, who addressed the crowd just before the start of the event. “I’d like to thank Larry Cardwell and Terry Carr from our economic development department for helping put this event together. And we couldn’t have a better neighbor than Living Faith Christian Center. They are such a good example of what helping our brothers and sisters is all about.”
“We’re excited to have the opportunity to present positions to people, because people need jobs,” added Pastor Connie McLean of Living Faith Christian Center. “Hopefully, this day will help a lot and make a difference in people’s lives.”
Job seekers that were unable to attend the event are still able to upload their resumes for the new electronic Pennsauken Job Bank. By visiting http://www.twp.pennsauken.nj.us/content/pennsauken-job-fair-2015, individuals searching for work in Pennsauken can be added to the list that the Township’s Department of Economic Development will be sharing with local companies looking to add new hires.
